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Shami ruled out, Deepak Chahar withdrawn; BCCI makes multiple changes to India's ODI and Test squads vs South Africa
Mohammed Shami failed to regain fitness on time and was on Saturday, ruled out from the two-match Test series against South Africa starting December 26.
The Indian selection committee made a few changes to the ODI and Test squads for the South Africa series. Pacer Mohammed Shami failed to regain fitness on time and was on Saturday, ruled out from the two-match Test series against South Africa starting December 26, said BCCI. Shami was named in the squad for the two-match series provisionally. His inclusion was subject to fitness clearance. “Mohd. Shami, whose participation in the Test series was subject to fitness has not been cleared by the BCCI Medical Team and the fast bowler is ruled out of the two Tests,” BCCI said in a release.
Shami had hurt his ankle after the ODI World Cup, where he ended up as the leading wicket-taker with 24 scalps.
There was another change in the ODI squad with medium pacer Deepak Chahar being withdrawn due to a family emergency. He was replaced with Akash Deep, who was already in South Africa as part of the India A side.
“Deepak Chahar has informed the BCCI that he will not be available for the upcoming ODI series due to a family medical emergency. The Men’s Selection Committee has named Mr Akash Deep as his replacement,” BCCI said.
Batter Shreyas Iyer will only be available for the series-opening ODI on December 17. He will join the Test squad thereafter and won't take any further part in the white-ball series.
“After the conclusion of the first ODI in Johannesburg on 17th December, Shreyas Iyer will join the Test squad to prepare for the Test series. He will not be available for the second and third ODI and will take part in the inter-squad game,” the release added.
India’s updated ODI squad for South Africa series: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (C)(wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep.
No Dravid as head coach, new support staff for ODI series
In another major development regarding the support staff of Team India, head Rahul Dravid, batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey and fielding coach T. Dilip will not be with the ODI squad. They will instead join the Test squad to prepare for the red-ball matches.
“Team (Senior Men) Head Coach Mr Rahul Dravid, Batting Coach Mr Vikram Rathour, Bowling Coach Mr Paras Mhambrey and Fielding Coach Mr T. Dilip will link up with the Test squad and oversee their preparations for the inter-squad game and the Test series.”
"The ODI team will be assisted by India A’s Coaching Staff comprising batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, bowling coach Rajib Datta and fielding coach Ajay Ratra.
India are slated to play an inter-squad match in Pretoria between December 20-22 to prepare for the Boxing Day Test. Captain Rohit Sharma, star players Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwin have all left for South Africa late on Friday and are likely to feature in that practice game.
